


At the Whims of the Sea

by LettersofSky



Series: Distant Past Zine Pieces [4]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: A lack of nautical puns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-23 17:33:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21085172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LettersofSky/pseuds/LettersofSky
Summary: When one’s life is dictated by the ebb and flow of a power greater than anything one can create, you kind of figure out there’s no need to worry about much else beside that.





	At the Whims of the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Second of the extra pieces I wrote for the Distant Past Zine: https://twitter.com/distantpastzine  
I really like Dualscar he just proud man, ocean man, thinks he's better then everyone else but only because he's worked to get there.   
Natural talent? Does not belong to the Ampora's. It just doesn't we know this.

The Orphaner Dualscar had a busy lot in life, well-earned and exactly what he’d always wanted and worked towards but busy all the same.

It was a difficult task to keep on top of all his many responsibilities and duties when the sway of the Ocean’s tides and currents were never as forgiving as one would like them to be but, in his most humble of opinions, he felt his long sweeps of existence at his disposal to assist him in getting through life and his duties in kind. So that he may continue to perform to the best of his abilities, better than the best of his abilities even as they never had been up to snuff, and continue to prove that he’d earned his position and place on the mortal plane as fleeting as they may be.

Which only made returning to the whisperings of a potential up and coming rival, as side-splittingly hilarious as it was that these wrigglers would even dare to think to claim being anywhere near equal standing, following him through the halls of the submerged docks.

“… already with a ship of his own…”

“… 3 lusii in this extended cycle alone…”

“… the Officials have even put in a good word for him…”

Oh yes, impressive feats each and every one of them. Without the much-needed context behind each that would give any real merit or worth for consideration.

How had he acquired his ship? Had he built it with his own claws? Stolen it from another troll? Had he gained it through mutiny? Had he found an abandoned ship with no one to contend his claiming of it? Or had it been handed to him along with that good word? Had fortune and luck joined to simply hand the opportunity to him upon a platter of silver fish scale?

He certainly hadn’t earned it like Dualscar had; hadn’t worked his way from the bottom rung up to a captaincy all of his own. Hadn’t lucked out the way Dualscar had at being the most senior onboard when the previous captain had been lost to the ocean waves. Really, trolls should stop being so impressed with the notion of a troll having a ship to their name; Mindfang did after all and she was the lowest of the low, completely undeserving of the honour and prestige of having a ship, an entire crew, under her command.

As for the lusii, there’d been numerous times Dualscar himself had returned with a number of them for Gl’bgolyb. Just another matter of lucky timing and good fortune, which so many seemed to both wilfully ignore and overlook in kind.

“… going to do about ‘im?”

He paused at the voice much closer than the passing whispers had been, turning his head and looking down at the younger troll at his back. As close to a second-hand as Dualscar would allow himself to keep; loyal only as far as it was in his favour to be and waiting for the first scent of blood in the water to turn on him, just as the rest of them were.

His fins fluttered as he considered the question, knowing better than to dismiss it out loud else he make himself a potential target for no reason. “As long as he is performing his duties in an admirable fashion then there is no reason to bother w-with him. The Empress and Gl’bgolyb are, at all times, our most important priority.”

“Yeah,” his second was younger, prouder, had yet to have that flame of aggressive territorialism beaten out of him by the cruel, uncaring tides of the Ocean and the Empress’ utter disregard towards those that worked tirelessly to ensure that her monstrosity of a lusus remained fed and silent in the deepest reaches of the oceans. “But what if he makes moves against us? How are you going to answer that?”

“W-what a w-wrigglerish question,” Dualscar scoffed, turning away to continue his stride through the halls, steps measured and even, unhurried and practiced, just the right length to them to indicate exactly how foolish he thought the question without making it too difficult for his second to keep pace if he wished to continue the conversation. Which, from the increased, quickened footfalls behind him, the younger troll did.

“If this w-would be Orphaner w-wishes to try his hands at sailing w-with the real sea-faring folk then he is w-well w-within his rights to try to.” Dualscar wouldn’t mind a weak attempt at actual competition for once, if the wriggler could last on the ocean long enough to pose anything like a threat at all. No matter how imbued this young upstart turned out to be with natural talent and standing within the collection of Sea-Dweller society the upstart was, the Ocean was a cruel mistress, cold and uncaring, and if at any moment she decided that a troll’s time was up then there was little one could do to change her mind.

It took a certain touch to navigate the Ocean, one trained under years of command and one that didn’t come pre-packaged in a troll’s genetic makeup.

“You’re really just going to let him be? Are you sure that’s a smart thing to do?”

He kept himself focused forward, carefully keeping his features blank else the other troll catch wind of his irritation and the clear, singular moment where his decision to be rid of the younger troll was reached. There was no reason to clue the other troll in to the fact the Dualscar would start to make moves towards his permanent dismissal from his duties as second-hand to their ship soon enough; the troll still held a wealth of knowledge he could use to ruin Dualscar if he were give both the chance and opportunity to.

With a new upstart making waves in the waters it was best to remove potential threats to both himself and his position as quickly as he was able to.

“W-we aren’t like those land-bound sav-vages, there’s no need for infighting w-when it can be av-voided. The Ocean’s big enough for the tw-wo of us to nev-ver cross paths for the entirety of his v-voyage.”

Up until the new troll in question decided that it might be an idea to weasel himself into Dualscar’s waters, but that was implied and hardly needed to be spoken out loud.

It seemed to appease the troll following him though as he quickly fell silent and chose not to question Dualscar further on the matter of the new upstart for the rest of the journey through the halls.

They weren’t planned to be docked long, just enough to unload what lusii Dualscar had managed to secure for the Gl’bgolybe and restock their own supplies before setting back out onto the endless expanse of space and waves that was the Ocean.

Which was exactly what Dualscar wanted. He didn’t want to deal with being on land, even if the halls of the Sea-Dweller port were mostly submerged beneath the waves themselves. There was a difference, subtle as it was, between the true freedom of open, endless water and the simulated, contained nature of the submerged buildings Sea-Dwellers created to accommodate their needs.

One of those differences being the attitude of the trolls around him even though Dualscar had long since lost whatever care he might have had towards the fact that he would never be as respected as some of the others due to his lack of natural talent and the fact that he’d earned his rank and station through his own hard work and dedication instead of having it gifted to him.

He cared little for them and their ideals, they mattered not when it came to the task of sailing and manoeuvring a ship through waves, storms and the beasts that lurked far from the laws of the lands, both troll and beast alike.

So let the new upstart come if he so wished to, Dualscar would gladly see the Ocean swallow him whole just as it would the corpse of his soon to be de-ranked second.

The Ocean was wide enough for them both if the upstart had any sense about him, and if not then she’d decide who would come out on trop of this faux rivalry when the time came for her to, impartial and uncaring as she ever was and so very, very alike their Empress herself.

Praise be to her name.

~

When he next returned to port, a new second at his shoulder, it was to a noticeable absence in rumours and whispering about that young violet that had held ambitions at becoming his rival.

“He must’ve run into a bit of trouble out on the water?” His new second, a violet she-troll of fewer sweeps than her predecessor had been, commented her fins fluttering softly as if trying to find some muttering of the other troll’s fate.

“V-very likely,” Dualscar agreed, barely resisting the urge to press at the fact that he’d been so very correct in his assumption that the little would be Orphaner would not last long upon the actual Ocean herself, certainly not to the extent dualscar himself had anyways. “A shame. I w-was looking forw-ward to a change of pace for once. Seems w-we’ll hav-ve to w-wait for another opportunity to show-w our merit, w-won’t w-we?”

“Yes Captain, we’ll get another chance soon enough.” His new second was much more polite and orderly than his previous had been, another added bonus to the new arrangement. Definitely enough to make up for the fact that his previous second hadn’t even had the opportunity to learn of this development and change his tun regarding it before the Ocean took him.

A shame indeed.


End file.
